Bobby Clarke Trophy

Jeff Spencer scored two goals and Steve Kinsley added a goal and two assists to lead Malvern Prep to a 5-3 win over Conestoga for the Flyers Cup Scholastic Ice Hockey Championship last night at the Havertown Skatium. Malvern, which had lost to Conestoga during last year's championship, came out playing physical and opened up a three-goal lead in the first period. Kinsley scored first for the Friars, 4 minutes, 13 seconds into the game. He converted a Matt Lannen pass from the corner, beating Pioneers goaltender Scott Graham on a low shot from the slot.

There were few surprises in who took away the annual hockey awards last night for the Flyers at the Wachovia Center. The Flyers players voted goalie Robert Esche the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy as the most improved player. Esche went into last night's game against Ottawa with a 1.99 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage and ranked fourth in the NHL. Mark Recchi, who has carried this team offensively the entire season while serving as an unofficial team captain during Keith Primeau's long recovery from a concussion, was voted MVP by the media and awarded the Bobby Clarke Trophy.

Flyers president Ron Ryan said yesterday that the team had fully cooperated with the NHL's internal investigation into allegations that Rick Tocchet, a former Flyer and Phoenix assistant coach, operated a gambling syndicate. Investigators from the league office reportedly have interviewed nearly 50 people throughout the NHL, including a half-dozen Flyer players and staffers last week, to try to determine what people might have known about the alleged operation. The NHL will finish their interviews with the Flyers in the weeks ahead, Ryan said.

First-year goalie Roman Cechmanek last night received the Bobby Clarke Trophy as this year's most valuable Flyer, as selected by a panel of Philadelphia sportswriters and sportscasters. That award, and others, were presented before the game against the Florida Panthers at the First Union Center. Cechmanek went into the game with 33 victories, and was second among NHL leaders in goals-against average (2.00), save percentage (.923), and shutouts (10). His 10 shutouts are the most since Bernie Parent's 12 in 1974-75, when the Flyers won their second Stanley Cup. Dan McGillis broke Eric Desjardins' six-year run by winning the Barry Ashbee Trophy as the Flyers' outstanding defenseman.

Naturally, the Flyers want the Rangers to consider all possibilities. This is the time of year when the training-room door slams tight. As long as a limb is still attached to a body, an injured player will remain on a day-to-day basis. So, the word is not official. But do not count out Ilkka Sinisalo and Peter Zezel from making meaningful contributions in the first round of the playoffs, which begin Wednesday night at the Spectrum. Sinisalo, whose cracked foot was too painful to skate on Friday, will try again this morning.

Tim Kerr caught an accidental stick near the left eye late in the second period last night and had to leave the Flyers' 2-2 tie with Washington. Doctors at Wills Eye Hospital did not feel it was necessary to hold Kerr overnight, and the Flyers expressed confidence that he would be able to play in the playoff opener Wednesday night at Landover, Md. "I can't see out of it right now," Kerr said upon his return from the hospital after the game. "But I think that's from the drops they gave me. They want to check me again today.

The Flyers were out of playoff contention before last night's season finale against the Detroit Red Wings at the Spectrum, but they still had a chance to achieve something. Unfortunately for the Flyers, they would have had to lose the game to do it. The Flyers entered the game with 70 points, and the Red Wings came in with 69. Had the Flyers lost, they would have jumped ahead of Detroit in the selection order for June's amateur draft. But the teams tied, 3-3, so the Flyers will pick fourth in the draft, and the Red Wings third.

SAN JOSE - Spanning a brief career with two different franchises, Brayden Schenn has never played an NHL game without Wayne Simmonds in the same lineup. The two have been linemates almost exclusively since arriving in Philadelphia in 2011. Few players on the Flyers' roster know Simmonds better. When asked what has made Simmonds so consistent this season, Schenn responded Saturday with, "Determination. " Minutes earlier, without prior knowledge, Simmonds used the same word.

Memo to the dwindling group of Flyers followers who have been looking forward to the merciful end to what yesterday officially became the most dreadful season in the club's 40-year history: So have the Flyers. In a dispirited and undisciplined effort, the Flyers lost to the New York Islanders, 4-2, at the half-empty Wachovia Center. The Isles needed the win to keep alive their faint hopes of squeezing into the NHL playoffs. The Flyers just need to get through one more game - today at home against Buffalo - to put this mess of a season behind them.

Mark Recchi, the Flyers' leading scorer last season, signed a three-year deal yesterday with the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team that launched his NHL career in 1989. "I believe his heart's always been here, so it's great to welcome him back," said Penguins general manager Craig Patrick. Recchi, 36, led the Flyers in goals (26), assists (49) and points (75) in 2003-04. In 16 seasons, he has played in 1,173 games, including two hitches with the Flyers and a 570-game regular-season streak (1991-98)

SCOTT HARTNELL said he is "not a Las Vegas oddsmaker," but teammate Kimmo Timonen has a pretty good idea where the money will be flowing in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Hint: Not many will be giving the Flyers much of a chance against the New York Rangers. "No question, they're going to be favorites," Timonen said. "They're really quick. They're smart. They're obviously a really good team. I won't say it's going to be easy, it's going to be tough games. But I'm really looking forward to it. " Two X-factors - the fact that the Flyers haven't won in eight tries at Madison Square Garden since Feb. 20, 2011, and Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist - likely will be swinging the action from Broad Street to Broadway.

MONTREAL - Just as the sun crackled over the Mount Royal summit yesterday, throngs of people made their usual weekend pilgrimage downtown. The route and ritual was familiar, if not the time of day. Fans clad in red and white streamed past Bell Centre, hockey's current cathedral, and packed bars - before liquor was even allowed to be served - to share in the camaraderie of this country's golden hockey generation. When the final horn sounded in Sochi and all of Canada erupted, the bright lights were once again shining on former Flyers forward Simon Gagne.

SAN JOSE - Spanning a brief career with two different franchises, Brayden Schenn has never played an NHL game without Wayne Simmonds in the same lineup. The two have been linemates almost exclusively since arriving in Philadelphia in 2011. Few players on the Flyers' roster know Simmonds better. When asked what has made Simmonds so consistent this season, Schenn responded Saturday with, "Determination. " Minutes earlier, without prior knowledge, Simmonds used the same word.

CLAUDE GIROUX'S mantel just got a little more crowded. Despite a push from a career season by linemate Scott Hartnell, Giroux cleaned up when the Flyers handed out their annual, end-of-year awards at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday night before their final home game of the regular season. Giroux collected the prestigious Bobby Clarke Trophy as team MVP and also added the Toyota Cup because he accumulated the most three-stars points on the team. Giroux has a career-high 93 points, the most by any Flyer since Eric Lindros' 93 in 1998-99.

For the longest time, many thought the No. 2 emblazoned on the back of Mark Howe's familiar orange Flyers sweater was symbolic. Some thought Mark Howe skated in the shadow of his famous father, Gordie "Mr. Hockey" Howe, who was his teammate for the first seven years of his career. Others thought it was his always finishing second, such as when he was twice a runner-up for the Stanley Cup (1985 and 1987). Or when he was a three-time finalist for the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman (1983, 1986, and 1987)

FOR THE LONGEST time, many thought the No. 2 emblazoned on the back of Mark Howe's familiar orange Flyers sweater was symbolic. Some thought Mark Howe skated in the shadow of his famous father, Gordie "Mr. Hockey" Howe, who was his teammate for the first 7 years of his career. Others thought it was he was always finishing second, such as when he was twice a runner-up for the Stanley Cup (in 1985 and 1987). Or when he was a three-time finalist for the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman (in 1983, 1986 and 1987)

During his steady and superb career, Mark Howe's accomplishments were overshadowed by those of his iconic father, Gordie, who was sometimes called "the Babe Ruth of hockey. " On Tuesday, the former Flyers defenseman finally found himself at center stage as he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame. "I'm Gordie Howe's son and I'm proud of it," Howe said in a conference call with reporters. "They could put me in as Gordie Howe's son and I'd be happy. " Howe, the first Flyers defenseman ever named to the Hall, will be inducted on his own merits.

SIMON GAGNE knew it was coming. He did the math. He checked the numbers twice, realizing the Flyers were almost $2.5 million over the salary cap, and knew he had "pretty much no choice. " Yesterday afternoon, before the Flyers dealt their longest-tenured player to the Tampa Bay Lightning for veteran defenseman Matt Walker and a fourth-round pick in what amounts to a salary dump, Gagne officially signed on a dotted line to waive his no-trade clause. Even though he agreed to the deal, Gagne was still surprised.

Memo to the dwindling group of Flyers followers who have been looking forward to the merciful end to what yesterday officially became the most dreadful season in the club's 40-year history: So have the Flyers. In a dispirited and undisciplined effort, the Flyers lost to the New York Islanders, 4-2, at the half-empty Wachovia Center. The Isles needed the win to keep alive their faint hopes of squeezing into the NHL playoffs. The Flyers just need to get through one more game - today at home against Buffalo - to put this mess of a season behind them.